WELCOME JENNA MACLAINE
Jenna Maclaine has a BA in history from North Georgia College & State University. She lives on a beautiful family farm in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. When she’s not at her keyboard, you can usually find her either feeding or cleaning up after something with four legs. Jenna is the author of three novels and four short stories in the Cin Craven series. She is eagerly awaiting spring, when her busy farm life settles down and she can get back to writing the fourth book of her series!
One of the most frequent questions I’m asked when I tell people I write vampire books is, “Why vampires?” Well, why not? They’re really fun to write and I like paranormal reads. I’m sure there are a lot of wonderful novels out there about normal girls with normal lives, but I want a bit of escapism in my books. At the moment, the most interesting part of my day is watching the doomed love story between the neighbors’ slutty tabby and my neutered barn cat, Jasper. I live on a family farm and I’m responsible for the daily care and feeding of 35 sheep, 3 llamas, 3 alpacas, 4 dogs and 12 cats. A dear friend once tried to talk me into playing Farmville on Facebook and I said, “Honey, I play Farmville in real life every day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. If I had time to play a game on the computer, it would be something like Lifestyles of the Rich and Not Covered in Sheep Snot. I want to get done with evening chores and play Farmville about as much as you’d want put the kids to bed at night and log on to play Being a Mommy and Raising Children.” When I sit down to read, I want to read about ass-kicking heroes and heroines who fight for the Greater Good and who, for just a little while, take me away from my perfectly normal life.
That’s why I write about vampires. They’re young forever and, since some of my joints are starting to sound a lot like Rice Krispie treats, that appeals to me. They have vampire strength, which I damned sure wish I had every time I lift a bale of hay or a bag of sheep feed. They don’t worry about making their credit card payments and I’ve never heard of one who had to clean the litter box. Cin, the vampire heroine of my books, also has magic. As someone who once locked three (yes, three!) sets of car keys in her vehicle, I can tell you that would really come in handy sometimes. Mostly, though, I write about vampires because I love history and with vampires I can write about any time period I want and still use the same characters.
There is, however, a dark side to writing (and reading, and watching) paranormal fiction— it gives you a vast and interesting array of fears and phobias that most people don’t have. I once accidentally stepped out of a crowded building into a deserted alley and being mugged was not the first thing that crossed my mind. No, it was: “Oh, shit! I’m vampire food!” I’m also relatively certain that werewolves (and possibly Sasquatch) live in my woods. One night, under a full moon, I was driving the golf cart back home from the barn and caught a glimpse of a dark shape running alongside me. My werewolf phobia kicked in and I hit the gas, experiencing a moment of panic as it sped up too… until I realized the “werewolf” was just the shadow cast by the roof of the golf cart in the full moon! I carry a machete in my truck and tell people it’s because I learned from Buffy that unless you cut off their heads, the bad guys always come back. And thanks to Sam and Dean Winchester, I own more salt than I’ll ever use for food preparation and my heart skips a beat every time the lights flicker.
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I’m a paranormal addict, love the thrill of the unknown. I also enjoy that there are no rules in paranormal fiction so anything goes! As for neuroses, let’s see: camping out in the woods is a definite no-no for me (full moon or not), my diet includes a good dose of garlic and silver necklaces are my go to jewelry…LOL Thanks for the great post and chance to win!
Thanks for the fun post and giveaway! I love how creative and unique each author’s worlds are. They reinvent the wheel so to speak and I love the anticipation of opening a new book and finding myself in a new world 🙂
I went camping once. (Though I don’t know if you can call it “camping” if you get in the truck and drive back to town every time you have to pee…) I don’t think I could do it again. My imagination is MUCH better at 37 than it was at 20! My idea of camping out is the Holiday Inn.
I like paranormal fiction books because of all the adrenaline and tension that they can cause us.
I love paranormal fiction because of the variety and uniqueness across the genre. For me, a paranormal/fantasy/sci-fi story is so much more exciting and engaging than one about the normal reality of everyday life. I like my books to take me on an adventure in a world different from my own. =)
I used to read nothing but historical romance, but I found that I wanted a heroine with a little more grit. That’s why I switched to paranormals. I don’t know if Buffy changed me or if a good many of the historical heroines became a little more watered-down after the 90s? Anyone else notice that, or is it just me?
I love you too, Laurie! Thank you so much to you and Kelly for the invitation to join the party. And thank you to your readers for all the entries! I’m off to bed but I’ll be around later, checking in. Feel free to ask questions and come visit me on Facebook!
Jenna, I love all your sheepies! I’m so glad you made it here today—
Guys, Jenna’s series seriously has the most kickass heroine and the best love story.
The Cin Craven series has the resounding endorsement of both Demon Loved and Highland Hussy. Go forth and read!
I love the Cin Craven series, and I am always hoping there will be more books.
The fact that there are both witches and vampires makes it so interesting, and Cin is so strong!
Oops, didn’t see the question at first – but I think the thing I love the most about PNR is the fact that the heroes and heroines can live more or less forever, and they have more strength and stealth than us normal people do.
I am a little like Jenna, myself, I am thinking about becoming vampire food more than I’m afraid of being mugged 🙂
I love paranormal. I like how different each of the worlds and characters are.
Great question!! And you had a great answer to why vampires, why not? Love it!
I love the variety of PNR. Though when I am walking across the lawn (I live in rural prairie) I do think…what if there is a werewolf tracking me? Or if there was a vampire how would I get away? Completely rational thinking I assure you.
id have to say i love all things supernatural im ahorror junky and a romance junky so i combioned the two i love how worlds have twists and no two worlds are alike which makes it awesome in its self really
I dont have any hang ups id hang in the woods minus the silver and the crosses
I dont know why i love it. Well i do, but it’s for everyreason you could think of. There is just something about it that calls.
Lexxie Lin– I did have 3 things going for me: it wasn’t full dark yet, I wasn’t alone, and I wasn’t wearing high heels. But we sure got out of there as fast as we could!
Lexi H– yes! I was taking care of the cats for a friend (same one as above, actually!) while she was out of town and the first night I pulled up and they hadn’t left the porch light on for me. In an isolated cabin. On top of a mountain. As I was walking to the front door was I worried about feral dogs, or coyotes or bear or some crazy rapist-ax-murderer from the trailer park down the mountain? No, I was looking around in her yard for anything that could quickly be used as a stake! 🙂
I like paranormals because of the variety of the stories. Even if 3 authors write about, say, vampires, each of them will be able to create a unique world and rules for their vampires. They can choose what myths to follow or ignore, develop their own reason for the vampires, etc. The only limits is their imaginations and nothing is impossible.
I haven’t developed any neuroses or anything. With as many paranormal stories as I read, this is probably good. If they effected me, I would be a crazy girl, hiding in my closet with a shotgun ready to shoot anything that entered my house, lol.
I love the crazy twists and turns the stories can move through and I love the world building